معرفی
Kotaro Hara is an Assistant Professor at Singapore Management University's School of Computing and Information Systems and a member of the SMU HCI Research group. His research focuses on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and accessibility, designing technologies to enhance independence and inclusion for people with disabilities. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park, advised by Dr. Jon Froehlich, and a BEng from Osaka University, advised by Dr. Fumio Kishino. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University and a Research Intern at Microsoft Research Redmond.
His work spans interactive tools for accessibility, leveraging crowdsourcing and machine learning to address challenges in urban accessibility mapping, crowd work fairness, and assistive technologies for visually impaired individuals. He has received numerous awards, including the CHI 2024 Honorable Mention Award and the Lee Kong Chian Fellowship, and has contributed to influential projects like Project Sidewalk.
Hara has taught courses such as Interaction Design and Prototyping at SMU and has mentored over 40 students across graduate, undergraduate, and visiting programs. His grants total over $1.9 million, including leadership in projects like 'Improving Fairness and Accessibility of Crowd Work' and 'Mobile-Friendly Data Visualization.'
He actively serves in roles such as CHI 2025 Accessibility Co-Chair and IMWUT Associate Editor, promoting accessibility and ethical HCI practices globally.
